Corrie Billy Mayhew star's life – Music career, co-star romance and Gwyneth Paltrow link

Billy Mayhew becomes concerned for Summer Spellman in Coronation Street, after she fell into a diabetic coma earlier this week.

Along with asking fellow residents including Todd Grimshaw to look out for her, Billy is set out to do everything he can to look after Summer, after adopting her following the death of father Drew Spellman.

While Vicar Billy has a sweet relationship with Summer on-screen, actor Daniel Brocklebank and Summer star Harriet Bibby also revealed they have a close off-screen friendship too.

That’s not all, as Daniel has also led a very interesting life away from the cobbles too, including co-star romances and a link to Hollywood starlet Gwyneth Paltrow.

Gwyneth Paltrow link

Long before Daniel Brocklebank became a fan favourite on Coronation Street as Vicar Billy Mayhew, the actor already had a long acting career in rival soaps and Hollywood films.

At the age of 19 years old, he played a young Merlin in the 1998 film of the same name, before landing the role of Sam Gosse in the Academy Award winning film Shakespeare In Love – where he appeared opposite Joseph Fiennes and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Daniel revealed that soon after appearing in the film, he decided to come out as gay, saying to The Mirror: “I pretend for a living, I didn’t want to pretend in my private life. When you spend your life on screen, it’s important to hold on to the bits that are real.”

He added: “I remember my management in Los Angeles trying to convince me not to come out because they said it would affect work – and it did.

“I stopped being screen-tested for the heterosexual male leads and I was either the gay best friend or the character parts. It was more in America than in Britain, but it was still very prevalent.”

After appearing in Shakespeare in Love, Daniel has continued his successful acting career in films such as The Hole and went on to land roles in rival soaps including Emmerdale, where he played Ivan Jones from 2005-2006, and EastEnders, where he played Roger Green in 2010.

Along with roles in Waterloo Road, Doctors, WPC 56 and Chasing Shadows, Daniel landed his Coronation Street role, saying: “I love it at Coronation Street,” adding it gave him a work/life balance he had never had before.

Sweet bond with Coronation Street actress

Coronation Street star Harriet Bibby, who plays Summer Spellman in the ITV soap, revealed in 2021 that she has a sweet on-set relationship with her co-stars, including Daniel Brocklebank.

Harriet, 23, joined the soap in 2020 following the departure of previous Summer Spellman star Matilda Freeman and has shared the screen with characters including Vicar Billy Mayhew and Todd Grimshaw.

She described that their time on screen together has led to a close relationship on set too, telling OK! Magazine: “My closest friends are Dan [Brocklebank, who plays Billy Mayhew] and Gareth [Pierce, who plays Todd Grimshaw], who I work a lot with.”

Off-set, Dan Brocklebank who plays Billy has even shared some sweet snaps of the trio spending time together, including the actors relaxing at a picnic table and smiling for the camera, showing that their bond continues away from the cobbles too.

Co-star romance

Along with his sweet co-star friendships, Daniel also found love with actor Rob Mallard, who plays Daniel Osbourne in the soap.

The couple dated briefly in 2017, and speaking about Daniel while collecting a British Soap Award, Rob said in his acceptance speech: “Even though this is fantastic, Dan, you’re the best thing I’ve ever taken home.”

However, the couple have since split up due to the pressures of working together but still remain close friends.

A few months later, Daniel began dating Stuart Hatton Jnr, after they met while attending Stockholm Pride.

The actor revealed the romance in a heartfelt social media post with a photo of the couple, captioned: “The best love story is when you fall in love at the most unexpected time with the most unexpected person.”

They later dated for over two years between 2017 and 2019, and revealed that they were discussing having children together, but decided to part ways in 2019 – citing scheduling difficulties and not being able to spend time with one another as the reasons for their split.

A source told The Sun: “They just don’t have the time and they sat down and had the talk to end things.

“There’s no one else involved, things just didn’t work out and they decided to move on. They still care about each other and wish each other the best.”

Hidden talent

Not only is Daniel a talented actor, but he also sent fans wild when he shared a video of him performing the ballad Grow As We Go on Instagram.

His fellow Emmerdale and Coronation Street co-stars were left in awe by the performance, with former Emmerdale actor Simon Lennon saying: “Beautiful! Love this song.”

Former Corrie star Catherine Tyldsley added: “Oh babe,” alongside a string of love heart eye emojis, while Sarah Barlow actress Tina O’Brien said: “Amazing Dan.”

That’s not all, as he also won the ITV series All-Star Musicals in 2019 after wowing the judges with a rendition of From Now On from The Greatest Showman.

He has since delighted fans once more with a video of him duetting with actress Emma Gilmour for a rendition of festive hit Baby It’s Cold Outside in 2021, with many saying that the actor’s voice is “wonderful.”

Homelife with an adorable dog

In 2019, Daniel revealed on social media that he had ‘a new man in his life’, after adopting an adorable rescue dog called Colin.

Daniel adopted the then-four-month old pup who was being cared for at Dogs Trust Manchester after being illegally smuggled into the UK, saying in a Twitter post: “I have a new man in my life. Peeps, please may I introduce you to Colin.

“A huge thank you to Dogs Trust for all your help & guidance. Adopt & give them their forever home.”

The actor has since shared sweet snaps of him and his gorgeous pooch on social media, with one of the two of them sat on the sofa, as Colin the daschund looked lovingly at his owner.

It was not long before the family grew either, with Daniel announcing that he had adopted a second dog called Jean in 2020.

He said on social media: “I would like to introduce you all to the newest addition to the family…Colin now has a sister, Jean!

“Huge thanks to the @DogsTrust again for all their amazing support.”

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk